Rain causes havoc at tennis event in Ohio

MASON, Ohio The top seeds at the Western & Southern Open waited hours through rain before their matches were postponed late Thursday night, setting up a chaotic weekend finish.

Defending champion Karolina Pliskova was up 3-0 in the first set against Camila Giorgi when steady rain moved in and the match was called more than two hours later. Rafael Nadal, the top seed in the men’s bracket, never took the court.

Both face the prospect of a long day Friday — an early afternoon match and, if they win, another at night. Three long delays and several shorter ones Thursday kept players waiting.

Wimbledon champion Garbine Muguruza overcame a long rain delay in the third set and fought off three match points before advancing to the quarterfinals. The tournament’s No. 4 seed beat American Madison Keys 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (3) to extend her successful summer.

Since beating Venus Williams for the Wimbledon title, she has reached the quarterfinals of her last three tournaments.

The third set was tied 2-2 when the first storm moved through the area in the afternoon, causing a nearly twohour delay. After play resumed, Keys got ahead 6-5 and was serving for the match at 40-15 but hit a couple of balls into the net. She wasted another match point before Muguruza took it to the tiebreaker and dominated.

Muguruza grew up near Barcelona and learned about the attack in the Las Ramblas district during the rain delay. She contacted relatives to make sure they were fine.

“I have been so many times to this place, it’s like my home,” she said. “So it really shocked me.”

Keys wasn’t able to make the one final shot to win it at the end.

Second-seeded Simona Halep became the tournament’s first quarterfinalist with a 6-4, 6-3 win over 15thseeded Anastasija Sevastova.